AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 16, 3 February 1893, Page 19

AUCKLAND.

(From our own Correspondent.) January 26, ]893. Hiß Lordship the Bishop paid his annual visit to the Thames parish last Sunday, and at the principal chnrch, Shortland, he confirmed a large number, who assembled there from all parts of the district. On next Sunday his Lordship will make his annual visitation to Si Benedict's, Newton, on which occasion the splendid new alran made by the Rev Father Luck, 0.8.8., of the Waikato, will be used for the first time. Whilst in Kurope the Bishop purchased a magnificent marble altar for uhe in 8t Patrick's Cathedral. Upon arrival here it waa thought to be too much damaged ; but on the Bishop's return it was examined, when it was found to have suffered little from the voyage. Immediate steps are to be taken for its erection. A well-it tended meeting of the clergy of tbe diocese, presidsd over by the Bishop, took place ia St Patrick's Hall on last Thursday, 20th inst. Varions diocesan matters were considered, including the' question of education. Rev Father Lsnihao, P.P. of ParnelJ, has returned from Sydney, afier spending a most enjoyable though Bhort holiday. The Rev Father has now vianeJ almo9t every colonial centre, and, consequently, coincides with the plaintive melody " There is no place like home." Inspector and Mrs Rickson ara now fairly s-ttled down, having taken up their residence in the Sacred Heart parish, Ponsonby. His Grace Archbishop Redwood is expected here next month in order to attend the meetings of the senate. In that pretty marine suburb of Devonport, nestling under the evergreen slopes of Mount Victoria and the North Head, our coreligionists have for a long titna suffared for the want of a church. They have been assiduously collecting funds with the object of erecting a suitable edifice, and there is now in hand a substantial sum. A meeting, over which the Rev Father Hackett, Adm. of St Patrick's, 16 to preside, will be held at Devonport on Sunday, February 5, td lake idto consideration the lacdablb work Unlier dotted. Is it possible to better inaugurate ths new year ?

Finding the schools of the Sisters of Mercy inadequate for the growing needs of tbe parish, Father Gillan and his parishioners in Ponsonby are putting their shoulders to the whe«l in order to erect a boys' and girls' school, which is to be more central and commodious. More power to them.

The local branch of the H.A.C.B.S. has passed a vote of congratulation to Bros. W, Beeban and il. J. Sbeahan on their recent appointment to tbe office of J.P.

By elevating tbe rails on the wharf at our western port, Onehunga, the Railway Commissioners have excluded almost entiiely the horse and dray traffic therefrom, greatly to the detriment of tbe port and the public generally, What is worse they attempt to jaatify and maintain this Czar-like policy, and that in the very teeth of the most determined opposition of the people, who, after all, are the owners of the jetty, and for whom and by whom it was built. This triumvirate upon a certain memorable occasion gratuitously lectured the whole Colony on the evils of boycotting and exclusive dealing, and now when their billets are in jeopardy they change front to earn the dollars, but, as Macaulay said, " Flexibility of principal, though serviceable, can never be respectable."

A cablegram from Birmingham published in the local papers tells us that Pastor Collins of that place has accepted a " call " from the Baptist Church of Ponsonby, Auckland. Referring to the above in a footnote, both papers vouchsafe the information that " the pastor has not been definitely appointed to Ponsonby, but on arrival is to undergo a month's trial," which means that the " new chum's " theology is to ba placed in the crucible, and if it does not suit the elders and the rest of the " plungers " it will be branded as " Brummagem," thither to be returned in hot haste. Reformation you say ? I call it playing at church.

The Tablet of the 13th inst. administered a timely rebuke to the individual who corresponds from London for tbe Dunedin and Auckland Stars, Wellington Post, etc. We were also treated to that farrago about New Tipperary. Tbis scribbler is not unknown in Auckland, having resided here for some time. Amongst the gamblers and bookmakers he was a conspicuous figure. In one of the gambling dens of this city a bookmaker from Christchurch pulled his nose, subjecting him, at the same time, to other indignities. This edifying spectacle terminated in the Police Court. On another occasion he was ordered off from behind the scenes by the manager of the Juvenile Opera Company. Tbis is the kind of person, who persistently, in the above newspapers, seeks to defame the Irish people, and latterly called William O'Brien a " crazy fanatic." An apology is due both to tbe Irish people and to Mr O'Brien for coupling their names with such an effeminate poltroon.

In returns lately published abundant proof is afforded of the immense importance and value attaching to Auckland's indigenous product, the kauri gum. Last year the value of tb« gum exported from Auckland was £503,340, being an increase on the previous year of £66,284. To bring the matter home more clearly to our Southern friends, let us take the value of the gold yielded by the three principal gold producers of New Zealand for the year ending March 31, 1892 :—: — West Coast : 118,1580zi, value £472 672; Otago : 105,5310z5, value £423,527 ; Auckland : 40 5270z5, value £162 760. Thus it will be seen that our gum value exceeds the gold valua of either the West Coast or Otago. The value of dairy export for 1891 from the whole Colony was £236,933, and in 1890 £207,687. The gum-fields are a god-eend to the poor man, because there is absolutely no capital required to work them, and tbe veriest novice can, in a few dayp, acquire tbe knack of production. The fields absorb our unemployed and, unlike the harvesting, employ the whole year round, added to which they are a potent factor in the generating and developing a taste for rural life. All nationalities are there assembled, and represented in abundance by patrician and plebeian.

Nothing is too hot nor too heavy for thf) body existing in our midst known to fame (world-wide by tbia time, I imagine) as the National Association of New Zealand. Surprise need not be excited if it is found that Professor Bryce took council with them when drafting the Home Rule Bill, or that Cleveland asked a wrinkle to solve the currency question whereby be would get rid of the 750 millions of silver dollars in bis treasury vaults; and the N.B.W. treasurer. Mr Lee, hag implored their assistance to right his accrued deficits of £1,152,000. Like the Romans of od in quest of new foes to conquer, th«y cmsßed the path of the Hon " Dick " Seddon and gratuitously ranged themselves on the side of the Hail way Commissioners in the latter *e dispnte with the Minister. These " cosmopolitan meddlers " have, through the Minister's secretary, received a reply which, divested of its ornate phraseology and interpreted in vulgar parlance, virtually said, " Mind your own business and shut up." What a relief if they were to do so.

"Are the Irishmen of Danedin aad Christchurch not going to render pecuniary assistance, however small, to the people at Home at this momentous phase of the struggle ? ' la Irish circles here I have heard repeatedly thia query. With boJ puissant an educator as that thorough-going Irish Nationalist, the Tablet, in their midst, both centres ought to be in the van where Ireland is concerned, but I doubt very much if there is even a branch of the Federation in either place. The national spirit and enthusiasm are there in abundance, probably far more than either Auckland or Wellington possesses. Why, then, allow it to lie dormant ? This is no dictatorial spirit. It is written eolely to advance the cause which all trua Irishmen have at heart.